Three Days
by Mycha
Summary: She missed the infuriating, protective, adorable man far too much for it to be anything less than love.


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any characters from SyFy's Alice. I simply had an idea from their world that demanded to be put to paper and thought I would share with anyone out there who cared to read.

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><p><strong>Three Days<strong>

Alice slid to the floor beside her bed, the events of the past three days slamming her memory.

It had only been three days.

Three days since Jack tried to give her the Stone of Wonderland. Three days since she chased after him and ended up in that crazy place. Three days since she had last seen home – well, six if she counts the three days in Wonderland itself.

And three days since she last saw Hatter.

Hatter. The word alone made her want to cry. When she had woken up in the hospital, he was the first thing she thought of - and the fact that he was gone. The mantra of '_He's gone, he's gone, he's gone_' that was screaming in her head had put her in a panic. She hadn't even realized that she had said it out loud until her mother asked her who was gone. She had to give herself points, though, that she thought of something quick. Saying 'Hatter' would have only worried her mother more than she already was.

Alice cried until she was able to pull herself together. When she had calmed down, she shoved the thought of the man with the oh so expressive eyes into a box, waiting to analyze it after her mother left. Not that Hatter would actually let her do that - the man in memory was just like the man in real life and would show up at the most unexpected times. It was unfortunate that this time around it wasn't to rescue her.

She tried to convince herself that it had all simply been a dream. She had only been missing for an hour from the time she ran out the door until someone found her unconscious in the alley. She had been in Wonderland for several days by their timeline. In all honestly, who could really believe in such a ridiculous place, little less a place that had time so drastically different from her own and yet somehow tied to her own. The whole 'dream', though, was too vivid in its recollection. Alice couldn't remember a time when she remembered a dream with such detail, provided that she remembered her dreams to begin with.

Alice insisted that there was no way that she could have fallen for Hatter, nor he for her. After all, if the escapade was not a dream, he had told her he didn't want her to stay in Wonderland. The man was a conman, intent on her ring from the very beginning. Why in the world would she fall for someone like him? Yet he stood by her when even the White Knight ran away. He rescued her from danger time and again. He was comfortable, like a best friend whom you had known for so long you no longer can remember a time without them by your side.

Even now, sitting on her floor, Alice could barely keep the tears away. The hole in her heart was so big and so painful, she knew she shouldn't even try to rationalize the situation. She missed the infuriating, protective, adorable man far too much for it to be anything less than love. Of all the people to fall for, but she had and she had fallen hard. Even as her mother went to answer the door and called her to meet the man who found her, Alice was already trying to figure out how to get back to Hatter without abandoning her mother at the same time.

Reluctantly, Alice pulled herself out of her thoughts and off the floor when her mother called out a second time. She had to play nice, be gracious and grateful to the man who had found her. All the while, she was wishing that it was Hatter. Her Hatter was the only one she could think of at the moment, so much so that she had to do a double take when she saw the man at the door. Was she imagining things? Had she been thinking about Hatter so much that she thought the man with her mother was him?

Without thinking, Alice yelled "Hatter!" and ran at him and was rewarded with one of Hatter's lopsided grins. As they embraced, she vaguely heard him whisper "Finally." She was too preoccupied with the realization that the pain was no longer there, the hole in her heart was filled beyond capacity and for the first time in three days, she was crying in happiness.

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><p><strong>21 Jan 2012<strong>

A/N: Thoughts and criticisms are always welcome, but never required. I'm a bit late to this fandom, but I just recently saw the movie and have fallen head over heals for it. I so sorely wish I could find my own Hatter...


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